Dissolving Madness,
Ending the Nightmare,
Beginning a Better Dream

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Much of what we term “madness” is, in fact, the awakening of the “Self” to its own Wholeness/Divinity.  We are born totally pure. Throughout our lives we are subject to projections, flung at us from a multitude of directions: from Mom and Dad, from schools, religious institutions, the media, and the medical model.  We are all buried, to some degree, under projections, and interesting symptoms emerge: nightmares, stress and anxiety, fear, flashbacks, and so on.  These are not “Madness,” but symptoms of health; of a “Self” attempting to break free from lies. The Self simply needs help; by learning the right tools, by having guides and teachers.

“Madness” is not extreme states, but the journey to break free from projection. It is not rage, or throwing dishes at the wall to fight off an abuser, or grief after a loved one’s death.  Those things are health, those things are actions towards freedom.

The ONLY Madness is running away from Truth; denying the projections, denying the dysfunction.

“Madness” and diagnosis, as they stand, are but a social construct, designed to keep existing powers in place. The medical and mental health systems, political powers, branches of some religions, and dysfunctional family systems invoke “madness” while stripping free thinkers, rebels, women, and other marginalized populations of power and authority.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

I am a beacon of this possibility. I am a beacon of freedom, having been a sparkling little girl who was later subjected to the psychiatric world and poor therapy. I found freedom by breaking every rule.

At age three, I was a sparkling little girl sitting in synagogue, challenging the rabbi to see a bigger view on spirituality, including the divine feminine.  At sixteen I sat heavy in anxiety and fear. I sparkled as a writer and artist, with dreams of college, and yet was terrified to connect with others, and suffered from a nameless, roaming existential fear and tendencies towards self-hatred and isolation. I took myself to therapy, but found very few answers. There was a piece about little boys in elementary school verbally abusing me, yes, but all parts of me knew that was but a scratch on the surface.

After high school I set off for Vassar College where, I thought, I would immerse myself in the joy of the art department; write epic poetry, perform theater, and fall in love.  Creativity, I thought, would set me free from the weight of fear, anxiety, and self -hatred.  At Vassar, I lay in bed sobbing, hid out in my dorm room, and wanted to die.

I tried going back to therapy, but the suggestion of four-times-a-week Freudian analysis angered and frustrated me.  I was barely making it through the day, and was determined, no matter what, to make it through Vassar.

The first time I went to a psychiatrist I was nineteen.  “Paxil,” the psychiatrist scribbled down, with very little concern or curiousity about an underlying story.   I tried to mention it and he shooed the story and truth away.  So, Paxil it was, and later Trazodone too, for seven long years.  I could feel a horrifying and uncomfortable knowing crawling around inside of me, something about my childhood — blank-blank-blank — but the drugs shoved the monsters back into their cages.  The drugs kept me docile and submissive, a Stepford-wife-carbon copy of my true self. I had deep, dreamless sleep, but could no longer touch the magical spark of the Goddess, shook continually, nearly fell asleep while driving, and felt less and less of myself.

Psychiatrists and some of my family members were thrilled: Finally, instead of being a shit slinging feminist goddess I was … behaving. Finally, they had reason to say “See, she IS the problem”.

And that, exactly, was the problem.   ,

I knew I wasn’t crazy.  I knew I wasn’t any of the many diagnosis that had been blithely slapped on me.  But I didn’t know what I WAS.

Perhaps you relate.  Perhaps you’ve been diagnosed with something, and know its “not quite right” but are trying to figure out what is true.

Ask yourself this: Why would you use a diagnostic term instead of “spiritual emergence” or “Healing” or “Awakening “ or “Trauma Survivor?”  When we use diagnostic criteria, or the term Madness, whose Voice are we using and WHY?

Collectively we are still trying to appease the powers-that-be, to say “Yes we were mad but now we are better”.

Rather than the far more dangerous and revolutionary “We were never Mad. We are Divine Sovereign Beings, Waking Up to the truth of our lives, and clearing out the suffering others have imposed on us.”

But I didn’t know any of this, until that fateful day in 2005, in Maui, when I was introduced to a shaman and naturopathic physician who would change the course of my life forever.  Dr Valerie Simonsen, ND, was the woman who cracked my nut wide open and revolutionized my reality.

I had been cruising the Tibetan shops in Maui with my then-boyfriend and it popped out “I want off these meds.”  I had been exploring Ashtanga yoga for five years at that point and had moved to Maui to deepen my studies with Nancy Gilgoff.  On my yoga mat and as a yoga teacher I was seeking more and more connection to myself.

I was ready to be off the meds, done with diagnosis, and to figure out what the real problem was.

He dragged me across the street to the herb store to get a referral, and a month later I found myself in front of Dr. Valerie Simonsen.

Tall and strong, with upswept curly grey hair and silken robes that made her look like she belonged in a temple somewhere, I loved her.  I was in awe of her, and was mildly terrified – knowing if I walked through the door of working with her it would forever change my life.  She put me on a massage table and told me to close my eyes and drop my attention down into my body, and to energetically “see” where my own blockages lay.  I began to see the “monsters” that had been under the surface of the drugs, and that they were pieces of stories and trauma placed in me by family members!!!  I began to see that I was not crazy, mad, or psychiatrically “ill”: I was infested: sexual abuse and other traumas in my family system infested my mind, body, and spirit.

As both a naturopathic physician and shaman, Dr. Valerie was uniquely equipped to help me get off of medication AND break free of the diagnostic paradigm.

With vitamins, herbs, and supplements we began to heal my body. With shamanic work we  began to move traumas out.

I began to understand I was an amazing, whole person with tremendous light and potential. All of my symptoms that manifested as anything, were a literal infestation of other peoples’ drama and projections.

Here’s an experiment: write down the word “mad” or a diagnosis on the left side of a piece of paper.  Now on the right side write down a list of other possible words, like “healing” or “spiritual emergence” and see how THEY feel in your body.  Which terms feel better? Walk in that direction.

By buying into madness to the degree that we do, we create a collective nightmare based on broken social and political systems.  We have forgotten larger spiritual truths, and the fact that we are all, to one degree or another, simply weighted down by others’ projections. We have forgotten that we are pure divine beings, that we are whole and holy.  We have shut ourselves off in a world of machines, of artificial social structures with patriarchy and the 1% and the trickle-down effect of how this devastates every aspect of our lives.   This manifests across the board from environmental devastation to the broken medical and “mental health” system to war crimes, rape, and child abuse.

We have forgotten how other cultures live, with reverence for the earth and the ancestors.  We have forgotten other frameworks of shamanism and spiritual emergence.  We have forgotten the feminine.

What does your gut tell you is true? Your intuition?

We created a social “madness” and then we created an artificial and damaging “solution “ trying to cover our tracks.

Consider Sigmund Freud, one of the grand-daddies of our current diagnostic system.  He began seeing sexually abused women, believing their stories and authentically trying to help.  He then faced pressure from the big boys’ club, got a proverbial spanking and, instead of believing and helping these women, the diagnosis of “hysteria” and diagnosing them with disease was born!  Women went to Freud because they had been sexually abused by men in power. The “treatment” of telling them about their “fantasies” and “disease” was psychic rape.  And so it continues.

A problem can never be solved at the level on which it was created.

Ask a better question, like:

“Who AM I, REALLY”?

We are beings on a journey of WAKING UP to the truth – the truth of our personal histories, as well as the truth of our personal power and potential. Other cultures would see such symptoms as the birth of the wounded healer, or healing to be done within the ancestors and tribe, or possession by spirits.

In another place, and another time, beloved, you would be met with reverence and respect.  You would be met with respect for tapping your unseen spiritual powers, for healing trauma and abuse for the collective, for having the courage to wake up to your personal power.

And I extend that reverence to myself, to you, to everyone who has ever been abused by this system we call “mental health.”  And I extend this reverence to everyone in it who behaves poorly, as they, too, are asleep to who and what they are.

Who are you, really?

You are divine in human form.

I am divine in human form.

We all are.

When I lay on that table in Dr. Valerie’s office caressed by soft Maui breezes, and saw the bright blue sky arcing towards the ocean, I began to know:  We are infinite.

When she passed her drum over my body and called down the spirits I began to know: I am so much more.  The suffering when fully welcomed, processed, and digested over a sustained period of time, can be an awakening to our vastness, and a learning to bring more light to others.

The came one day in late 2005 when I was off of medication completely forever.  And another day in 2007, when at a yoga workshop with Ana Forrest, I lay on the floor and convulsed, as the last of the medications finally cleared my nervous system.

It wasn’t the end of healing, but the true beginning of many, many more years of integration, processing, and additional teachers.  It was the beginning of my reclaiming my whole story and many more lost soul parts. The death of my identification with drugs and disease was the beginning of the birth of me.

I had tiptoed into death with forays into psychiatry and some very traditional therapists, and saw only my own destruction.  So I left, howling, running to shamans and yoga teachers and spiritual healers. And my own refusal to believe anybody’s voice but my own is what ultimately saved me.

We are utterly whole.  The horror that comes forth is but the projections others have placed upon us.  The “symptoms” are your mind, body and spirit attempting a deep clean of the Self or Soul, not quite knowing HOW.  You can do it. You can birth yourself.   With the right help, it is but purification towards your most whole and divine self, away from illusions and lies.

In the moment we question externally imposed reality we wake up to the vast power, free will, and sovereignty that lie within us.  Old projections, traumas, and wounds can no longer be stuffed down and repressed in our ever-expanding being.

It might feel like shit, AND: it is movement towards greater health and integration.  This is not a nightmare.  This is waking up from THEIR bad dream. And, yes; sometimes we need help. Guides of a sort. Get support. Get support from one that truly knows their shit, and welcome it.

When seeking a guide, ask this: Who holds you large? Who can see you in your power?  Who has the tools and the skills to hold you, and stay present, no matter what, and to encourage you to shed the projections, stories, and lies?  Who can help you stay IN Your body, help you stay grounded, and help you through your sacred Awakening Process?

That is a place to begin.

That is the place where the word “madness” and its nightmare ends.

That is the place YOU begin.

Write down the word “mad.”  Place it in a bowl and watch it burn.

Take out a piece of paper.  Ask “Who am I, Really?” Begin to write a better dream.

***

Mad in America hosts blogs by a diverse group of writers. These posts are designed to serve as a public forum for a discussion—broadly speaking—of psychiatry and its treatments. The opinions expressed are the writers’ own.

48 COMMENTS

  1. Your personal story is beautifully expressed and is a welcome addition to a growing collection of experience involving shamanistic practices and journeying as part of the healing process. Eleanor Longden, with her therapist hat on says “Don’t tell me what other people have told you about yourself, tell me about you,” and you say “who am I, really?” R.D. Laing wrote about the divided self. Stripped to the bare essentials, healing is learning to love and delight in one’s self, the journey of finding out who we really are, not someone else’s version of who we are supposed to be. I often feel that those we call shamans are the people who are the most in tuned with helping us to see what is within our grasp if only we clear away the confusion that life has imposed on us.

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    • Hi Rossa-
      Thank you so much for your kind words and thoughts. I want to add, that in addition to shamanistic, my journey (and work with clients) also greatly focus on somatics, or how the body holds process. And yes—- I totally agree with Longden and Laing!! Your wording is beautiful . I especially appreciate …”what is within our grasp if only we clear away the confusion that life has imposed on us.” YES! with good thoughts, Asherah

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  2. Lovely description of your spiritual journey, I went / am going through something similar. I absolutely agree, our society and mainstream religions have ridded themselves of all respect for the divine feminine, despite a respect for the intuitive and caring nature of women having value. Now we have never ending wars, too big to fail banks, and the psychopathic corporations in charge, exactly what our founding fathers warned us to avoid.

    Love your name, Asherah, wife of God? I was born an “El,” and named after the plains of the promise land. Two Jewish psychiatrists, a Rabin (rabbi) and Kohn (kohen) claimed belief in God to be a mental illness, and my name to be “irrelevant to reality.” I got away from those disrespectful men, whose goal it was to cover up the abuse of my small child and easily recognized iatrogenesis.

    Seven wonderful Jewish curmudgeons later sat me down and told me I had an extremely religious name to the Jews. Let’s pray our society learns some day to have respect for the feminine traits. A completely paternalistic society is not the answer. I agree, “The ONLY Madness is running away from Truth.”

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    • Hi there….Thank you. And sending many good thoughts and blessing your way. YES!!! the absence or de-valutation of the divine feminine, the mother, is a part of many imbalances , from all the points you make , to environmental destruction and certain types of trauma. Asherah is indeed the ife of god —so hello, El! Not my birth name, but , a part of the journey. I appreciate you in who you are, and in your true name. And I am so sorry for what you went through. Lots of love, and lots of embracing truth! Asherah

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      • Well, I’m just a woman who “comes in the name of the Lord,” not Him, of course. But, other than my dealings with the insanity of the psychiatric industry, I’m a woman whose been truly blest, so tries to help others. And I guess God wants me to try and help those harmed by psychiatry, so … I hope I can some day.

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  3. Ok, now we’re getting somewhere, here. Indeed, running from truth is what leads to madness. We have either run from truth, or it has been kept from us. Either way, we have been so terribly separated from the truth of ourselves, mass madness was inevitable, and now we’re in the thick of it. As you so perfectly articulate, “We created a social ‘madness’ and then we created an artificial and damaging ‘solution’ trying to cover our tracks.” What an incredible mess we’ve made in the process.

    Coming out of the dark can seem like madness, but that is only because we are not used to light, we have blocked it for so long, as have not wanted to see the truth of ourselves. It takes adjustment when we shed old skin and false identities, based on the delusions we are fed as ‘truth,’ part of the process of shifting self-perception. The whole world changes for us when we see ourselves as we really are, and own our potential.

    I also totally agree with this statement, “A problem can never be solved on the level on which it was created.” Creativity, innovation, and ascending ego-related issues is where solutions are manifested, not in blame or victimization. That only perpetuates the problem, since this is where the problem was created in the first place. New perspectives to old stories create better feelings, more truthful realities, and desirable outcomes.

    Thank you for sharing your inspiring story and raising awareness of our spiritual nature. That’s the ticket to healing and personal evolution, I’m certain of it. It’s also how we, as a society, are going to wake up, once and for all. It is inevitable at this point.

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    • Alex, thank you. Lets run towards truth and take the risk of becoming more ourselves (collectively and individually) , shall we??? And yes- the world does change when we see ourselves as we really are. Thanks for reading this and being on this ride with me. I’m curious for you (since you speak to our spiritual nature) what that means for you, personally? As I am aware we all have our own perspectives. Lots of good thoughts! Asherah

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      • Beautiful, Asherah, that’s certainly been my intention for a while now, to return to me and encourage others to take that ride, as well. And you’re right, it is, indeed, quite a ride! Like no other.

        Lots to say about our spiritual nature, but I’ll keep it simple for now: our spiritual nature is unconditional love. And it does take courage to own this, because most of us mere mortals fall short of this at present, thanks to our lovely society and all the crap it has gotten us to belief about ourselves.

        We can reverse this, however, and heal our negative self-mirroring and self-talk. We can work on it daily, owning our emotional responses so we can refine them, knowing we can shift our focus to create better feelings in our body as well as better experiences in life, simply from owning how we respond to present time. That expands our capacity to love, which is a wonderful feeling.

        The more we trust ourselves to love and feel joy from what we manifest and experience–regardless what it is, all a matter of perspective and interpretation–the more we move closer to our spiritual nature and, in the process, create a just, balanced, and love-filled life/world. Again, takes courage because in doing so, we go against the grain. But I say, keep walking forward and don’t mind the naysayers! That would there THEIR limited capacity to love, so compassion would be in order, here.

        Starts with us, though. If we do not feel love and extend it outward, then we will not manifest it for our own experience, because, in essence, we block it out. That is our nature, to create that which matches our internal vibration, indicated by how we feel.

        So when we block out love, we are going against our nature, which is why it feels so bad when we don’t feel love. We are not feeling our nature, so we’re not in communication with our higher selves. That is darkness (lack of light) and dependence (lack of freedom), as we do not know our inner guidance in this state. Translates to all kinds of pain and suffering, both physical and emotional.

        Love the somatic work, and I agree, it’s all emotions. Humans are fueled by the heart, the energy of which we feel in our bodies. We can drive these as we choose and create without limitation, based on how we focus our attention. We are unlimited creative beings. To my mind, that is our spiritual nature.

        I follow this, and it’s worked miraculously for me. The more I focus as such, the more and better I create. For example, just recently and practically spontaneously, just because I chose to volunteer my time for something and help out at an assisted living center, now, suddenly, I’m putting together a musical revue as musical director for a band, to perform for residents this center, and am also in pre-production for a new documentary about healing through music, love, and joy, centered around this show we’re doing. This came right to me, including people wanting to work on this with me. All because I do my spiritual work and focus on becoming a more loving person, daily. When I make that my priority, life cooperates like I’ve never experienced before.

        Here’s my website if you want to check it out. This is the work I do, so I do walk my talk around this. On last page is my first film about healing, where I talk a lot about heart healing and forgiveness. That was a huge part of my journey to heal. http://www.embodycalm.com

        Thanks for asking, my favorite topic 🙂

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          • Psychiatry calls what a disorder, our spiritual nature or unconditional love? They seem to believe it is our nature to be disordered–or at least, for some. Psychiatry calls many normal and healthy things a ‘disorder.’ They’ve created a huge international extremely profitable industrial complex out of doing that.

            I would never call anything ‘a disorder.’ Maybe temporarily out of order, I think everyone experiences at least that, but I could never believe that a person is ‘disordered.’ That’s dehumanizing.

            I’d never measure myself against the society of psychiatry. That is a false, biased, stigmatizing, nonsensical, and inhumane standard. So I’m not surprised that what I believe would be considered something less than. Then I’m in good company, with the rest of the world. In any case, I’m happy, healthy, and fulfilled. If that’s a disorder, I’m proud and grateful to own it.

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  4. Very inspirational comeback and success story in becoming free and finding true happiness!

    I’d just like to mention that from what I’ve been reading, Paxil seems to be a particularly destructive drug for artists and musicians because it can severely stifle a person’s creativity, passion, spontaneity, empathy, etc.

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  5. ‘”Madness” is not extreme states’

    For some people of course it is.

    How things ‘began’ i went from ‘normality’ to being turned inside out & oneness with the Universe in an instant – & was thrust in to pure terror – extreme hallucinations, & convinced i’d lost my soul to the Devil & uncovered a Global Conspiracy. i couldn’t imagine being in a more altered/non-ordinary/terrified state. That lead to some me expressing some very distressing behavior., that resulted in hospitalisation & medication to try & bring me out of it all.

    Maybe some more humane alternatives would have been better – But the fact remains i was in a highly altered & very extreme state of altered consciousness, terror/madness/delusion.

    Have realised that a lot of people that come under the mental health system/psychiatry, especially in America – have no idea what it’s like to be in such states.

    To Quote –

    You know, a long time ago being crazy meant something. Nowadays everybody’s crazy.

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    • Hi there…Sorry for the intensity you’ve been through. Sending lots of good thoughts your way. I feel like you are trying to make an important point here? And somehow I’m missing it? Here if you wanna try again… And yes, madness and extreme states are sometimes different (and sometimes the same). And its important to differentiate that they are not always the same thing . However, my curiousity is —is what society calls madness an extension or continuation of extreme states? Hoping thats helpful. A lot of what is socially called madness is extreme states, and a lot of madness *could be* trauma induced extreme states ignored and discounted for too long. Thats where I am at, and hoping its helpful. Asherah

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  6. i do like the article & thanks for sharing – But this idea that some people aren’t insane is wrong – a small percentage of people are genuinely totally insane. i don’t doubt a lot of people currently under psychiatry in the US are Not experiencing any major genuine/extreme insanity, but that doesn’t mean to say that no one is. Of course the genuinely afflicted need genuine compassion & humane treatment as well.

    i think psychiatry should confine itself more to severe mental illness. i suppose that has always been a ongoing problem? Don’t know what the solutions are?

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    • Hi there. Hmm, the point I’m trying to make is that the idea of madness, as a *whole* is problematic and socially constructed. Of course, there are some folks whose manifestation is more extreme than others. The question I personally have about that is WHY?? If someone is “insane” (to use your word)…I would personally be curious about origins…eg…rooted in trauma? Ancestral patterns? Physiological issues that could be helped with extreme holistic care? Of course some folks are way more extreme than others and get a different label- and—my curiousity is whats really going on underneath all the manifestations? (and if we know, and work with that, do the manifestations change?). Hope thats helpful. Asherah

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      • Hi Asherah, thank you for the replies.

        i’m all for there being far more in the way of more comprehensive humane help & support for people. The upshot for me after 30 years of all ‘this’ is that i agree with psychiatry – i fit a case of severe schizophrenia.

        Someone replied this, to a similar discussion on another forum –

        “Trauma/abuse can lead to psychosis but not all trauma/abuse victims become psychotic. This suggests that more is needed to tip someone over into psychosis than a traumatic/abusive experience. Also there are those with psychosis who have experienced little or no even mild abuse/trauma.
        While psychosis might be seen as a route to personal growth by some for others it’s a long term,distressing and disabling experience.
        If you are able to see your delusions as a reaction to trauma and/or part of a (spiritually) transformative experience then fine but many don’t fall into that category.”

        i’ve tried everything to address, resolve & work through my difficulties, & i’m still unwell – should i blame the system/lack of appropriate understanding & care? People just don’t understand. Or is it a failing on my part?

        i’ve considered every angle possible as explanation to my difficulties & nothing entirely fits other than it being an illness.

        i wish i could say it was all a natural response to life, trauma & circumstances & that i’ve found genuine understanding & healing, am successfully off medication, & living a full & contented life – but i can’t, that isn’t the case, & it isn’t through lack of trying.

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        • i have made progress – have gone down the alternative healing route & practised sobriety for 13 years – also tried 7 different psychologists – none of it has fully worked to more fully resolve things. i say i’m looking for more genuine understanding, to be deeply listened to, validated & acknowledged – But no one can comprehend what that is? i think it must be part of my illness.

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          • “i say i’m looking for more genuine understanding, to be deeply listened to, validated & acknowledged – But no one can comprehend what that is? i think it must be part of my illness.”

            & when the point is pressed people get blaming & angry.

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          • I wonder if the problem is exacerbated because others have not learned the grace and patience to validate and respect you. If you are feeling devalued is there a place or a group of people with whom you feel honored and respected? If so, go with them and have little to do with those who belittle you. You may be interested in this link. http://www.rossaforbes.com/ I don’t believe for a minute that you are ill. You are possibly just absorbing the frustrations of those around you.

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          • “I don’t believe for a minute that you are ill. You are possibly just absorbing the frustrations of those around you.”

            Thank you for the reply Rossa, to all intents & purposes, whatever way it’s cut i think i am ill.

            i’ve considered all the psychological, social, spiritual angles to it all (as far as possible). The realities remain.

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          • It’s just a generalised opinion – i think each individual needs to be taken on a case by case basis. i think it’s dealing with very complex areas, across bio/psycho/social/spiritual concerns/aspects.

            In no way to negate anyone’s suffering & difficulties – But is everyone suffering some form of severe mental illness? i get the distinct impression they’re Not.

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      • Hear you, and sending good wishes. I think there are some things in life that are simply a mystery—-and that can be frustrating as all get out. I am so sorry to hear of your suffering. I would be curious if anyone has explored a somatic (body based) angle on this , because for me, the somatic and spiritual perspective together were the only things that worked, AND going to a medical intuitive (not in this article) at one point I was on 20 plus supplements together to set things right, plus going to two different healers/therapists, changing my diet, and doing yoga daily. So it took a precise combination of things over years for this to clear out. The point being, the way we are constructed can be a messy tangle indeed, and sometimes its like picking a lock with a very precise combination to “un-stick ” it. While I have no answers, I wish you lots of ease and grace and send hopes that it might get easier for you.

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        • Thank you. There is a mystery to life & madness.

          i do need to address & work on certain things.

          i find motivation, overall functioning & maintaining healthier activities very difficult. i’ve been trying to do more walking.

          i feel very much, & always have done, that i need more in the way of appropriate & genuine understanding – to be genuinely listened to, validated & acknowledged. Have been told that is unreasonable & narcissistic by some people.

          i can’t seem to find a deeper understanding with people – i feel conflicted with humanity.

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      • Ms. Eden – In line with how you are paring down the issues and getting at the basic relevant discriminations, I wanted to mention the philosopher of science Ian Hacking. Not too long ago he took time out to critically assess the conception of multiple personality disorder and how it’s diagnosed, evaluated, treated, etc., devoting a book to this study called “Rewriting the Soul;”

        http://press.princeton.edu/titles/5673.html

        I haven’t read it, but elsewhere in related discussion he mentions just what you allude to, that as soon as anyone actually receives a diagnosis, the phenomena in question undergoes alteration. Likewise, whereas you make the categories, contexts, and definitions explicit and acknowledged as necessarily needing to be understood by all, for discussing the meaningfulness of any putative determination of the pathological versus the merely adverse event, the industry types I’ve met all want this stuff obscured and unquestioned by us. In regard to that typical process, Professor Hacking pointedly employs the term “transient mental illness” for the almost discussed types of problems that lives get hijacked for by the mainstream and its advocates. That’s yet another simple tweak to industry parlance that could counter trends in overdiagnosis, the pathologizing of everyday life and differences, and the creation of career mental patients, that the professionals won’t bother to implement since it once again implicates their resistance to talking things over above board with survivors just for a moment. “Acute, chronic, oh yeah–transient…” Thanks for sharing the important autobiographical revelations, from Raymond Ave. and everywhere else that counted.

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  7. This is very similar to my journey, and your words are a beautiful expression of healing. It is so difficult for me to stay committed to truly waking up and being present with my Self and all of the parts I carry. There are times when I don’t feel I have the resources to contribute to the process — for myself and others (I am a therapist) — but it is hopeful to read of your progress. I am at a crossroads right now, having been off medication for over four years. However, I am considering taking it again — simply to numb the extremes while I try to raise three kids as a single parent and work to provide for their needs. My heart wants to just allow the waves of this process, but I am not functioning well. I am worried about losing what I have and need to keep (my children and my jobs) to this constant “madness.” Meanwhile, I am doing all I can without medication – Ashtanga hot yoga, hiking, running, biking, writing songs, journaling, and praying every day. I am also participating in some incredible body work/touch therapy (the Rosen Method), and reading a lot of Carl Jung’s words to gain perspective on healing. And still, parts of me want to die every day.

    Thank you for sharing your journey – it is hopeful!

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    • Mary Anne,
      Thank you for the courage, beauty, strength, and honesty with your reply.
      One…there is no right and there is no wrong. We all need to honor ourselves in the ways we can. I went through this journey mostly on my own, while a student, and working part time, so I can only imagine the intensity with children and jobs. My heart goes out to you, beloved.

      You’re doing so many wonderful things for yourself with yoga, activity (yoga has been HUGE for me in this, although I don’t talk about it much here, I am a long term 15 year practitioner and yoga teacher too), the body work/touch work (yup, a part of my process and training too), reading. Beautiful, and hugs.

      I’d really welcome opening a 1-1 dialogue with you over email, phone, or skype if you wished. I would be honored to connect in whatever capacity felt right. (email: [email protected])

      with love,
      Asherah

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    • I am sorry you’re facing such difficulties but I think you should consider that going back on drugs to “numb the extremes” may make you “feel better” but it may also impair the way you’re dealing with your many responsibilities and stresses thus pushing you deeper into despair. These drugs can make people care less and have less empathy for others, not to mention adverse effects on cognition, memory and so on. “Numbing” is what people often sick in difficult times and some of them choose drugs like alcohol or marihuana or psych drugs. All that leads to is addiction and more problems. They may be “helping” in a short while but if all you want is to medicate life it’s a road to disaster.

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  8. “You are divine in human form.

    I am divine in human form.”

    This is true. This truth needs to be understood and nurtured. The better we understand the Divine, the better we understand ourselves.

    I am glad that you have broken free of the shackles of psychiatry, and that you have found helpful guides in your journey of healing.

    Have you read Robert Whitaker’s books? Or Peter Breggin? Or Thomas Szasz? These are a few brave souls who have dared to expose psychiatry for what it really is. When the lies are exposed, it is easier to see ourselves and others as we really are.

    Best wishes for your continued spiritual emergence.

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    • Hi there—yes, thank you for resting with me in this key truth. And exactly…the better we understand the divine, the better we understand ourselves…”Thou art that..” I’ve heard of all of the folks you mentioned and have read….none of them, and looking forwards to adding them to my list! My understanding comes almost from the opposite end- not from any direct expose of psychiatry, per se, but from direct experiences wih embodiment and divinity. Best wishes to you.

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  9. Asherah,
    “there is no right and there is no wrong” ? Are you sure about that?

    Have you noticed a very common thing in people with delusional thinking, so-called schizophrenics? Delusions of grandeur? I do not think that this is just a symptom of their problems, but a contributing factor in their distress.

    Please be careful and be humble. The Scriptures I believe say, “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble”.

    Keep in mind, in your response that I can’t be wrong. Right?

    Abundant blessings to you, and I am glad you are doing well.

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  10. “Perhaps you’ve been diagnosed with something, and know its “not quite right” but are trying to figure out what is true.”

    Exactly. “There is nothing wrong with you” is the words people need. In most cases there is nothing to wrong with the “mad” person and everything wrong with the circumstances they have to live with.

    “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.” – Jiddu Krishnamurti

    Psychiatry is there to protect abusers and people in power from the wrath of their victims.

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  11. “Psychiatry is there to protect abusers and people in power from the wrath of their victims.”

    I agree, this is what ends up happening. Abusers hide behind these rationalizations. Victim is blamed for making abuser angry. Age old story, needs to change….

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    • Then again, there are some people who provoke and provoke and provoke, and then wonder why people get angry at them, and call it ‘abuse.’ There is such a thing as ‘addicted to victimhood.’ Chronic abusers and perpetual victims can both exhibit toxic and manipulative behaviors. It can be very tricky to assess what is truthful and what has been instigated. The middle ground of integrity can be hard to find in this world–like a needle in a haystack.

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      • Real victims very often are protective of abusers (aka Stockholm syndrome) and ashamed of their victimhood. The abusers are usually the ones who are most happy to wave the flag of “I’m a poor victim, feel sorry for me” and point their fingers at others, usually their victims for being “crazy”.

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  12. Wonderful post. I agree that sometimes madness is a natural response to one’s surroundings, it is an attempt to find inner balance. The question is whether it is the role of the world of psychology to help one address this. It can be argued that by interfering in one’s life this way, psychology may be making value judgments as to the way one should act. Speaking within a certain range, there are no “shoulds.”

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